Credit Repair web sites often tout a 'secret technique' for wiping away all of your bad records that no one else has. Something that works like magic. This line is supposed to attract new clients: who wouldn't want to know such a secret. But stop for a second before rushing to put your little remaining money into that deal. I have personally checked and studied all of these 'secrets' myself while fighting for my credit scores. I have spent my money on this. You don't need to waste yours. I write more about these secrets in my guide, but I think it is important to mention them here too so you can clearly see your choices. Here are the secrets:

There are ways to temporary remove a disputed record from your report. You send a letter of inquiry to a debt collector, and at the same time you request that the consumer reporting agency removes the record because it is under investigation. The agency is not allowed to include non verified records therefore it often agrees to your request and temporary removes the record. The key word here is 'temporary' - if the record is legitimate, it will show up on your file again, and very soon.
Another suggested technique is to use notorious 'clumsiness' of consumer reporting agencies to your advantage. The technique is to bombard them with letters stating that the record of interest is not correct because of (your reason goes here). You send your letters one after another each time changing the reason and hoping that the agency will finally make a mistake (mostly the hope is that the agency will not complete its verification within 30 days given it by law) and remove your record. What's wrong with that technique? First, it is not a reliable solution: it will only work if you're lucky. What if you are not?
Second, it is also a temporary solution. Old debts are often reviewed or sold to other collection agencies. That debt was not officially paid or settled therefore one day you will be contacted again regarding it. What can you show to prove otherwise? Nothing.
One large credit repair business boasted that it owns 'super software' that can search and identify errors in the process used by the consumer reporting agencies for entering negative records into consumers' reports. Once the technical errors are found, the negative record can be removed from the report. Of course the claim was bogus and the company was sued. But the old ideas don't die. Just last week I saw a credit repair web site advertising the same 'super CD' solution for deleting negative records.